Sauerbrey must pitch 'big tent' approach to defeat...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

I applaud Paul Delaney for his excellent article ("Sauerbrey & Co. must decide whether to court right wing or pursue Republican 'big tent' strategy," June 1) in the Perspective section.

Mr. Delaney describes the dilemma of the Republican Party in Maryland against the backdrop of other states, and he suggests a political path Ellen Sauerbrey and the GOP must take if they expect to win the governor's race in 1998.

It is apparent that Ms. Sauerbrey is torn between courting conservative GOP power brokers in ultraconservative counties and pursuing minority voters aggressively.

The failure of Ms. Sauerbrey to reach out to minority voters will result in another loss.

Ms. Sauerbrey must overcome the misconceptions of GOP bosses and their inability to spend money to boost the campaign in areas where there is a large concentration of ethnic voters. It should be apparent that black votes do count, and to ignore this fact will result in candidates losing statewide elections.

In 1994, Ms. Sauerbrey lost to the incumbent by less than 6,000 votes. This should send a strong message to Republican Party officials that they must consider alternative political strategies to win the governor's race.

It is unfortunate that GOP brokers are ambivalent about blacks and wish that they would go away.

Ms. Sauerbrey must attract more voters because Democrats are not serious about the plight of corporations. Maryland is unable to attract major companies to increase its corporate tax base because of the governor and the Democratic-controlled Maryland General Assembly.

Corporations face fierce competition in a sophisticated and often hostile business environment. Unfortunately, economic issues are not a priority for Gov. Parris N. Glendening and members of the Maryland General Assembly.

Charles W. Breese

Baltimore

This letter is in response to the column by Paul Delaney ("Sauerbrey & Co.").

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Mr. Delaney correctly identifies the challenges of bringing everyone under the Republican big tent. Managing the diverse views of a major political party is not unique to the Republican Party -- just ask any pro-life Democrat.

However, Mr. Delaney is clearly uninformed about the extent of involvement of African-Americans in the Sauerbrey for Governor campaign.

Mr. Delaney states that he has not "noticed blacks among the top advisers on [Ms. Sauerbrey's] staff or in her campaign." Perhaps if Mr. Delaney took the time to investigate the structure of the campaign's field operations, he may have noticed that the director of the Montgomery County campaign is an African-American (Alvin Williams) and that this writer is the co-director of the Howard County campaign (I am also an African-American).

In addition, African-Americans hold significant positions within the campaign structure in Baltimore City and Prince George's County.

If Mr. Delaney had investigated Ms. Sauerbrey's efforts to expand her support within the black community, he would have noticed the statewide efforts of Ms. Sauerbrey's African-American coalition. Del Cornick and Mel Bilah, a former candidate for lieutenant governor, head the coalition.

Ms. Sauerbrey seeks and acts upon the advice, recommendations and sometimes candid comments from all of us in the campaign.

And recently a group independent of the campaign, Black Business Leaders for Sauerbrey, formed with the goal of informing African-American business leaders and professionals of the value Ms. Sauerbrey's pro-education and business positions to Maryland's black communities.

Boyd R. Rutherford

Columbia

The writer is co-director of the Sauerbrey for Governor campaign.

Manifesto duo explained some flaws in our system

Thank you for your article by William Pfaff ("Marx, Engels were prophetic thinkers," May 29).

I am no economist, and I have not been able to understand Karl Marx well. But I'm glad to hear that not everyone accepts our social and economic system uncritically.

There seems to be a lot of human misery out there that we don't want to face. Your articles about panhandlers and soup kitchens illustrate some of these problems.

Frank Kasper

Baltimore

Front-page photo of pupils brightened the morning

What a great photo on the front page of The Sun on May 30. An intent class of third-graders from Harford Heights Elementary School on a walking tour is focused on an assignment.

They are neatly dressed and seem to be enjoying it all.

Congratulations to the teacher for staying out of the camera's range, and congratulations to the photographer, Amy Davis.

This photo was a joy and an inspiration to start off a spring morning.

Virginia Johnson

Baltimore

N. Ireland nationalists still distort past and avoid future

The assertion in a letter to the editor that nationalists have been the only victims in Northern Ireland ("N. Ireland nationalists were the real victims under Britain's rule," May 29) shows a blatant disregard for the facts.